The San Joaquin Regional Transit District (RTD) compares favorably with other forms of transportation in the county, RTD spokesman Nate Knott told Manteca Rotarians at their regular Thursday meeting at Ernie’s Restaurant meeting room.
“We have some of the finest infrastructure in the entire country,” Knott said, adding that their transit buses had nearly five million riders last year.  “And as a transit agency, we have no debt.”
He noted that people get irritated when they see empty buses on the roads – usually between the peak periods of the day and not understanding how many passengers had already been on board the buses earlier in the day.
The smaller Americans With Disability Act (ADA) buses are also available to pick up handicapped riders at their homes.
While most of their buses are of the larger variety, RTD has to also run smaller buses to meet the demands of the ADA riders’ needs. Buses are also run daily for commuters traveling to Livermore and to the federal lab just beyond the Altamont at a cost of $164 to $205 a month.  There are some 50,000 trips annually taking passengers from Stockton to the BART station in Dublin.
Knott said his agency is about to initiate a van pool to take clusters of people from county neighborhoods in and around Stockton to places like Amazon and other corporate campuses in the San Jose areas.  He said each van will be assigned to a driver who wills chauffer workers over the hill to Silicon Valley and collect the fares from them and send it on to RTD.  He said RTD is presently negotiating such lease agreements for a number of vans.
The RTD trips over the hill average $320 a month, Knott said.
He pointed out that the amount of federal subsidies varies from bus to roads to airlines and Amtrak.
Roads and freeway account for some $47 billion in subsidies while airlines receive $16 billion, he said. Bus transit nationwide accounts for $10.5 billion and Amtrak $1.4 billion in federal support while the German nation budgets $47 billion on its train system.
“When you put gas in your car 50 cents per gallon is deducted for transportation costs and the fair box on a bus pays for only 18 to 20 percent of the bus operation.”
Knott said the heaviest time of ridership throughout San Joaquin County is reflected from 6:15 to 7:30 in the mornings, 2:00 in the afternoon and 5:30 in the evening.  Ridership is off some 15 percent from two years ago, he added.
The amount of dedicated taxes paid by the consumers amounts to 25 percent of the cost of operation, Knott explained.  In 2007 the RTD budget was $34 million dropping in the recession and back up to $34 million again last year – not having risen in that 10 year period, he added.
Knott went on to say that flights to Mexico out of Stockton Metropolitan Airport can be expected to begin in 2017 adding that the Port of Stockton is self-supporting as it brings in some $600 million to the local economy annually.
Earlier in the year the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) awarded $4.7 million to RTD competitive grand to fund the expansion of its electric bus fleet.  RTD is one of 10 agencies that is expected to receive a share of $55 million in funding through FTA’s low and no emission vehicle Deployment (LoNo) program. RTD’s grant has funded the purchase of five 40-foot Proterra Catalyst Battery-electric buses and an additional Proterra fast-charging station installed over the last summer.
Knott pointed out that since its launch in 2007, the three Bus Rapid Transit Corridors have experienced extraordinary growth in ridership. RTD now plans to add the Downtown and the MLK Jr. Blvd Bus Rapid Transit corridors for passengers and will provide conveniences that will attract additional customers to the system.
To contact Glenn Kahl, email gkahl@mantecabulletin.com.